US Ambassador in Madrid Voices Displeasure Over Absence of Meeting with Sánchez. US Ambassador Benjamin León Jr. expressed disappointment that Pedro Sánchez has not received him during his three months in Madrid. Washington is dissatisfied with Spain's position on military spending. The country's authorities have so far refused to make concessions.
A diplomatic conflict has escalated in Madrid: US Ambassador Benjamin Leon Jr. publicly expressed his dissatisfaction that, after three months of working in Spain, he has still not been received by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez. According to the diplomat, such an attitude causes “frustration” within Donald Trump’s administration and calls into question the prospects for high-level bilateral contacts.
Leon Jr. noted that during his stay in Spain, he was able to meet with opposition party leaders — Alberto Núñez Feijóo (PP) and Santiago Abascal (VOX), as well as the head of the Madrid regional government, Isabel Díaz Ayuso. On the part of the current government, the US was received only by the ministers of foreign affairs, defense, interior, and agriculture, as well as the king, to whom the ambassador presented his credentials.
At his first public appearance in Madrid, Leon Jr. emphasized that Washington is extremely dissatisfied with Spain’s position on military spending. According to him, at the NATO summit in The Hague in 2025, all countries, including Spain, agreed to increase their defense budgets to 5% of GDP, but it was the Spanish government that refused to fulfill this commitment. The ambassador stressed that this issue has been the cause of the cooling relations between the two countries.
During his speech, the diplomat refused to discuss the possibility of withdrawing American troops from the Rota and Morón bases, noting that such decisions fall exclusively under the authority of the US president. At the same time, he indicated that the disagreements concern only the positions of the governments, not the relationship between the peoples of the two countries. León Jr. also called Spain an “irreplaceable NATO ally” and recalled that nearly 7,000 American military personnel and their family members are stationed at the two military bases in the country.
Issues of defense spending and military cooperation between Spain and the US remain the subject of heated debate. As russpain.com notes, the country has previously seen disputes over the terms of hosting foreign military facilities and Spain’s participation in international operations. In a recent article, the publication described how large infrastructure projects can affect the country’s strategic interests, including security and international cooperation.
For reference: Spain is among the key US partners in Europe, although the country's military spending levels have traditionally been below the European average. The Rota and Morón bases play an important role in NATO operations and provide for the transit of American forces to the Mediterranean and Africa. The future development of cooperation depends directly on political decisions in Madrid and Washington.
